(Photo: PFF)
2. Joe Burrow– Two are left! It feels as though I just was getting ready to kick this off and we are close to the finish line! Let me jump right in. In 2019, he put together the best season I’ve seen with my own two eyes as a college Quarterback and had the LSU Tigers in every game. He finished that season with a total of 60 touchdown passes, won the Heisman Trophy and capped that year off with a National Title. The following year, the Cincinnati Bengals draft him and it was rocky in the beginning, but eventually, he rose above it. For the second time, Joe Burrow is making an appearance on the Best In The Business project. He is my second-best player in the league and my top-ranked Quarterback as we approach the 2025 season.
I still remember the first time I watched him, it was a week two game in 2019 against the Texas Longhorns and I remember telling Cole Johnson how impressed I was not only with what he was doing on the field and how he spread the football around to the open receiver, it was more so of how poised this young kid was as the environment didn’t bother him and he was as cool, calm and collected as I had seen of a Quarterback. Fast forward to all these years later with Joe in the NFL and not a single thing has changed. You can attempt to trash talk him and he just gives you that smirk, puts it behind him and is throwing the perfect pass on your defense. You could put your all into a hit with him and nothing changes as he gets back up and looks ahead to the next play. It’s either you’re born with that in your DNA or you’re not and Joe just has it. His confidence is through the roof and he plays with zero fear. I’ve often found myself comparing Joe to Drew Brees due to his ability to spread the ball around and connect with his receivers, but the one thing he has on Drew is the mobility factor and how he can extend a play when he sees a blitz or pressure coming his way. He’s always looking to make throws down the field, but won’t hesitate to maneuver through a lane if the opportunity presents itself. His ability to fit the ball into the tightest of windows and if you play any of his receivers one-on-one, he will take full advantage of the coverage and attack, but truthfully, it doesn’t matter what the coverage is or the look maybe because Joe will place the ball only to where his intended receiver can get it. There’s not a game he doesn’t think he can win or a pass he doesn’t think he can complete as he feels he can do it all and it’s tough to root against a guy like that.
Joe missed the remainder of the 2023 season after tearing a ligament in his wrist and came back with a vengeance in 2024 and put together the best season of his career as he finished last year with 4,918 passing yards, 43 touchdown passes and nine interceptions. The Bengals offense had to shoulder much of the load for an inconsistent defense that struggled to get off the field and Joe was the leader of that offensive attack in Cincinnati. I found myself saying this a lot last year whether it was on this site on throughout the radio shows I contribute for and that’s if the Bengals won more games and had made the playoffs, he runs away with MVP and it’s not even close. When he’s healthy, you see the difference in the Bengals.
